Stringed musical instrument.



PATBNTED JUNE 7, 1904.

0. A.- MOORE. STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 29, 1903.

K0 MODEL.

' flwem oz' 1722 766868.

UNITED STATES Patented June 7, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,693, dated June *7,1904.

' Application filed May 29, 1903. Serial No. 159,293. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. MOORE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newark, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain'new and useful Improvement in Stringed Musical Instruments, of which the following is a full, clear, 7

and exact description.

This invention relates to stringed musical instruments; and the objectof the invention is to provide an instrument of this character of simpleand novel construction having a small number of strings and upon whichsolos or airs can be played upon a single string with a chordaccompaniment and also to provide an instrument which is simple in itsmanipulation, and therefore easily learned.

The invention consists in a stringed musi cal instrument comprising anelongated body constructed of two bulged portions connected by a narrowneck portion, the side walls of said body constituting a continuouscompound curve, a short neck to receive the string-keys secured to oneend of said body, a finger-board extending lengthwise of the body fromthe neck to within a short distance of the tail end of the instrumentand provided with a series of frets of novel construction and arrange.ment, and a set of strings connected to the string-keys andextendingover the fingerboard and connected to a suitable tailpiece at the otherend of the instrument, all as I Will proceed now more particularly toset forth and finally claim.

1n the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a topplan view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a perspective view on aslightly larger scale. Fig. 4: is a perspective view of thespringpresser, and Fig. 5 is a view show ing the preferred form of pickor plectrum.

The body of the instrument comprises two bulged portions 1 and 2,connected by a central narrow neck portion 3, the said portions 1 and 2and their connecting portion 3 con-' stituting an elongated body hollowthrough out and its side walls constituting a continuous compound curve.The portion 1 is provided in its upper surface with f holes or openings4 i, like that of an ordinary violin, and the section 2 is provided witha circular or round opening 5, like that of an ordinary guitar, therebygiving the body of the instrument substantially the appearance of acombined violin and guitar.

To the end of the portion 1 is secured a neck 6 of sufiicient length toreceive three tuning or string keys 7, and to the end of the portion 2is secured a tailpiece 8 of any suitable construction to receive theends of three strings 9, 10, and 11, the other ends of the strings beingwound upon the tuning-keys 7 in the usual manner. A

Secured to the upper side of the body and extending from the base of theneck 6 to within a short distance of the opening 5 in the portion 2 isan elongated finger-board 12, having suitable foot-pieces 13, secured tothe body to support the finger-board above the body to form abridge-like structure to thereby retain nearly the entire upper surfaceof the body for vibration, and thus enhance its resonance. Thefinger-board is provided with a suitable number of frets for tones andhalf or semi tones, those for tones extending from edge to edge of thefinger-board, while those for the half or semi tones extend from theedge of the finger-board nearest string 11 to some distance from theedge of the finger-board nearest or below the string 9 in order that thewhole tones may be produced without pressing the string upon the half orsemi tone frets. The fingerboard is also provided along its edge nearestthe string 9 with a series of cut-away portions or notches 14 adjacentthe half or semi tone frets, whereby the performer may readily force thestring 9 inwardly and press it into engagement with the half or semitone frets when it is desired or necessary to produce half or semitones. Suitable rests 0r nuts 15 and 16 for supporting the strings abovethe finger-board are arranged at the neck and tail ends of the body. Ihave herein shown the finger-board as provided with frets for tones andhalf-tones of two and one-half octaves, which will give sufficient rangefor playing any ordinary tune or diiiicult piece of music. However, Iwish it to be understood thatI do not limit my invention to the exactrange of the instrument herein shown, as the same may be varied toincrease or diminish its capacity, as may be desired.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown the preferred forms of string-presser 17and pick or plectrum 18 to be used in playing upon the instrument. Thestring-presser17 may be constructed of wood or any other suitablematerial and of sufficient length to be grasped in the hand and isprovided with a rounded end 19 to engage the string and a shoulder 20for a purpose presently appearing. The pick 18 may be constructed ofwood or any other suitable material of the shape shown or of any othersuitable shape to be grasped in the lingers of the right hand.

To tune the instrument, the strings 9 and 10 are tuned to the samenote-say (and as is preferable for concert pitch) to lr and the string11 is tuned to D, thus harmonizing the three strings when played upon.As thus tuned the first note of the natural scale of C is produced bypressing upon the solo-string 9 between the second and third whole-tonefrets, and the three strings will produce the chord (1,G, and D,and soon a series of chords will be produced throughout the entire series offrets, the strings 10 and 11 being played open at all times.

In playing the instrument it may be placed upon or across the lap whenin a sitting position or it may be placed upon a table or other suitablestand with the solo-string 9 toward the person, and the string-presseris taken in the lefthand and manipulated over the solo-string only toengage the string with the desired frets to produce the piece of musicto be played, and during the manipulation of the stringpresser thesolo-string is picked with the pick or pleetrum in the right hand andthe pick simultaneously drawn over the strings 10 and 11 at the opening5 in section 2, thereby produeingasolo and accompaniment effect. When itis desired to produce a half-tone or accidental, the shoulder 20 of thestring-presser is brought into engagement with the solo-string andforced laterally a sufficient distance to engage the solo-string withthe desired half-tone fret, the notches 14 in the linger-boardpermitting or facilitating such manipulation of the string-prcsser.

Thus I have described one and the preferred manner of tuning andperforming upon the instrument; but it will be understood that theinstrument may be tuned and played in other ways.

l/Vhat 1 claim is 1. In a stringed musical instrument, a bodyconstructed of two bulged portions and a narrow hollow neck portionconnecting said bulged portions, a neck provided with tuningkeys securedto one end of said body, a tailpiece secured to the other end of saidbody, a

finger-board extending longitudinally of said body and provided withaseries-of frets constituting whole and half or semi tones, thewhole-tone frets extending entirely across the finger-board and the halfor semi tone frets extending from one edge thereof to within a shortdistance of the other edge, and a set of three strings secured to thetuning-keys and tailpiece and extending over the finger-board, one ofsaid strings constituting a solo-string and normally overlying thewhole-tone frets only and adapted to be forced laterally into engagementwith the half or semi tone frets.

2. Inastringed musical instrument, a body, a finger-board extendinglongitudinally thereof and provided with a series of whole-tone and halfor semi tone frets, the whole-tone frets .extending entirely across thelingerboard and the half or semi tone frets extending from one edge ofthe finger-board to within a short distance of the other edge thereof,and a set of strings extending over the lingerboard, one of said stringsconstituting a solostring and normally overlying the whole-tone fretsonly, and adapted to be forced laterally into engagement with thesemitone-frets, combined with a string-prcsser having a rounded end toengage the solo-string to press it into engagement with the frets andalso having a shoulder to engage the string to force it laterally intoengagement with the semitone-frets.

3. In astringed musical instrument, an elongated body, a finger-boardprovided with a series of whole-tone and half or semi tone frets andextendinglongitudinally of the bod v,and a set of strings extending overthe linger-board, one of said strings constituting a solo-string andnormally overlying the whole-tone frets only and adapted to be forcedlaterally into engagement with the half or semi tone frets, the saidfinger-board having notches or cutaway portions adjacent said half orsemi tone frets to facilitate the said lateral movement of thesolo-string.

4. In a stringed musical instrument, a [inger-board provided with aseries of frets constituting whole and half or semi tones, thewhole-tone frets extending entirely across the finger-board and the halfor semi tone frets extending from one edge thereof to within a shortdistance of the other edge, and a set of strings secured to theinstrument and extending over the linger-board, one of said stringsconstituting a solo-string and normally overlying the whole-tone fretsonly and adapted to be forced laterally into engagement with the half orsemi tone frets.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 28th day of May,A. :l). 1903.

CHARLES A. MOORE.

itnessest C. A. N EALE, E. A. FINCKEL.

